


All the Stars We Steal from the Night Sky

by 1Diamondinthesun



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Friendship/Love, Future Relationships, I'll tag this as, M/M, One Shot, Pining, Poetry, Sleeping Together, Teacher Louis Tomlinson, They're just friends, or are they
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 08:06:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22322197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1Diamondinthesun/pseuds/1Diamondinthesun
Summary: When Harry is sleepy, truly bone-tired, he knocks on Louis' door. It's becoming a habit.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 28
Kudos: 160





	All the Stars We Steal from the Night Sky

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a Tumblr ask requesting a one-shot with the above title. I hope you like it, anon! 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who reads. I love you all!   
xx Cait

Harry rounded the corner to the now-familiar flat and stood at the bottom of the stairs. He stared wistfully at the door, fearing his aching legs would finally buckle under him when he tried to climb the stairs. Only the thought of his best friend waiting up for him propelled his weary body upwards. Harry pressed the buzzer, and even the tip of his finger stung. He chalked that up to the day he was having. 

A sleepy  _ hello _ rasped through the speaker beside Harry, and he smiled. 

“Hey,” Harry said. “You awake?”

“I am now, you heathen,” Louis yawned down the line. “Come upstairs. Aren’t you freezing?”

At that, the buzzer sounded and the door opened with a click. Harry yawned then too, and then opened the door to make the short trip up to Louis’ flat. He paused at the door of 5A, ready to knock, when the door suddenly swung open. 

“Damn,” Louis said simply in greeting, likely surveying Harry’s haggard appearance.

Harry smiled. “Nice to see you too, Lou.”

“Well, come in,” Louis replied, mirroring Harry’s tired smile. 

“Thanks,” Harry said, though it came out as an exhausted whisper. He crossed the threshold and took a moment to snap a mental picture. Louis stood before him in an oversized grey hoodie Harry had bought years ago, soft-looking joggers, and thick wool socks. His black-framed glasses were smudged in places, and his hair was rumpled from the practiced motion of running his hands through it in exasperation. 

“Grading all night, then?” Harry asked Louis as he slipped off his boots and shrugged out of his coat. 

Louis nodded as he gestured to the kitchen table piled with various stacks of paper, then reached around Harry to shut the door. He crossed his arms and rocked back and forth on the balls of his socked feet. 

“Yeah, for hours,” Louis confessed, blue eyes flickering up to meet Harry’s. “You want some coffee?”

Harry held Louis’ gaze and slowly shook his head. “No, thank you. Maybe just...bed?”

Louis’ polite smile softened into something more private that gave Harry butterflies in his stomach. 

“Yeah, H. Come on in.”

Harry let Louis lead him by the hand towards Louis’ room, which was bathed in soft lamplight. He dutifully turned his head while Louis stripped off his hoodie, exposing a ratty white tee with a few care-worn rips and holes. Harry made quick work of his jumper, his belt, and finally his jeans. When he turned towards Louis, Harry found his best friend’s eyes already on him. Louis’ expression was fond. 

“I’m flashing back to the time you ran out in the rain and washed your hair in my mum’s garden,” Louis confessed. “I don’t know why. Must be feeling nostalgic.”

“If I remember correctly,” Harry replied taking a step towards Louis’ bed, “you soon joined me in that downpour. You used up my shampoo.”

Louis scoffed. “That shampoo was shit, Harry.”

“Excuse you. It was Herbal Essences. It smelled lovely.”

“Whatever you say, love.”

Harry’s heart nearly ached at the term of endearment, and he reminded himself that Louis was generous with that particular term. Everyone from his siblings to the pizza delivery man to the landlady was deigned “love.” 

And yet.

Harry bit back a grin as he carefully pulled back the covers on Louis’ bed and plugged his phone into a spare charger on the bedside table. Finally, he unbuttoned his now-wrinkled shirt and placed it on the neat pile of his clothes. He climbed wearily into his side of the bed (something he wasn’t ready to discuss with Louis), and then curled up facing Louis. 

Louis rolled his eyes but placed his glasses on the other bedside table, pulled back the covers on his side, and wordlessly slipped in beside Harry. He snuggled down under the warm sheets and blankets and then rolled onto his side to stare at Harry. 

“Long day?” Louis asked, slowly edging closer to Harry. 

Harry’s attempt at a smile felt more like a grimace. “You could say that.”

“Hmm,” Louis mused, smiling sleepily at Harry. “I think I know what you need.”

Harry suspected  _ a sweet, goodnight kiss _ was not the answer Louis was looking for, so he settled on, “What’s that?”

Louis winked and reached behind him to grab a book from his bedside table. He turned back  to face Harry with that same warm smile. Without preface, Louis opened the book to a marked page and began to read. 

_ It’s all I have to bring today-- _

_ This and my heart beside-- _

_ This, and my heart, and all the fields-- _

_ And all the meadows wide-- _

_ Be sure you count, should I forget-- _

_ Some one the sum could tell-- _

_ This, and my heart, and all the bees-- _

_ Which in the clover dwell. _

Harry blinked slowly, hypnotized by Louis’ soft voice and the words of the poem.

“Shakespeare?” Harry asked, tracing the edge of Louis’ copy of a tattered book of poetry.

“Dickinson,” Louis answered with a whisper, slowly cradling Harry’s fingertips with his own for a moment. In the next moment, Louis was withdrawing his touch.

Harry, however, could feel the residual tingle of Louis’ gentle touch on his own fingers. He smiled and let his eyes slip closed. 

“Hey Lou?” Harry asked, his words nearly slurred with sleep.

“Yeah, H?”

Harry tentatively reached out blindly and grazed his fingers over Louis’ shoulder. “I had a shit day.”

“I know, love.” 

There was that word again. Love. 

“Gonna sleep now, ok?”

“Turn around, H,” Louis coaxed. 

Clumsily, Harry rolled onto his other side facing away from Louis. A moment later, Harry felt the reassuring warmth of Louis curling around his back as the big spoon. 

“Can we talk about it tomorrow?” Harry mumbled, half asleep. There was a moment’s pause when Louis’ slender hand stroked through Harry’s messy curls, and Harry was asleep before Louis could utter a response. 

Louis reached back and turned off the lamp, cloaking the room in darkness at last. 

“I’ll be here, darling,” Louis sighed, sliding closer to Harry and burying his face between Harry’s shoulder blades. “Sleep now.”

  
  


  
  


  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I'm 1diamondinthesun on Tumblr. Come say hi!


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